This choice was welcomed with enthusiasm by Free Software supporters and civil society, while the Presidency of the Italian Council of Minister contested this law, by referring to the Constitutional Court in order to declare it unlawful.
On March the 23rd, 2010, the Court ruled that the preference for Free Software is legitimate and complies with the principle of freedom of competition.
The Region points out: "It is not understandable how the the choice of a Public institution with regard to a feature, and not a product ... can be deemed as a breach of antitrust law”. Later on, the Court clarifies that “The concepts of Free Software and software whose code can be inspected do not refer to a particular technology, brand or product, but they rather express a legal feature".
In short, according to the Court, favoring Free Software does not infringe freedom of competition, since software freedom is a general legal feature, and not a technological aspect connected to a specific product or brand. This ruling demonstrates the weakness of the arguments of those who, until now, have opposed the adoption of rules aimed at promoting and favoring Free Software arguing that they conflict with the principle of "technological neutrality".
Source: Assoli
Associazione per il Software Libero (Assoli) is a non-profit organization established in the year 2000 to promote freedom in the use of computer programs and to defend the rights of Free Software users.
To achieve its goals, the Association promotes the development and use of Free Software in the Public Administration, schools, public and private companies, and in all domains of society.
In recent years the Association has performed some campaigns as well as legal proceedings, and it has interacted with the Public Administration to promote public policies in favour of Free Software.
http://softwarelibero.it
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